[Arid_gardener] Tomato Plants Drying Out/Dying

[Lois Greer]

Amen to that!  I would be the first to purchase!

Lois

My mind is a garden. My thoughts are the seeds. My harvest will be either flowers or weeds.

-Mel Weldon 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dick Gross 
  To: Carolyn Hills ; fawziamai at aol.com ; arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu ; AZ-Sinbad at cox.net 
  Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 2:31 PM
  Subject: Re: [Arid_gardener] Tomato Plants Drying Out/Dying


  Brilliant, Carolyn. You have covered it all. Your response should be a chapter in the Master Gardener's Desert Bible. I often refer to the corporate intelligence of Master Gardeners. This represents precisely what I mean.

  We don't have a bible? Well, maybe we should. A format similar, perhaps, to the Housewives Cookbook edited by you and Cathy Cromell would have a place of honor on my bookshelf.

  Thanks for your input.

  Dick Gross
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Carolyn Hills 
    To: fawziamai at aol.com ; rkgross3 at cox.net ; arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu ; AZ-Sinbad at cox.net 
    Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 10:52 AM
    Subject: Re: [Arid_gardener] Tomato Plants Drying Out/Dying


    Sinbad -- There are a few more tricks you can put into your arsenal for next year to extend the production of your tomato plants. My tomato plants are still producing like crazy because I took the advice of some wise Master Gardeners and implemented these methods. I moved to north Phoenix from the San Francisco Bay Area four years ago, and had a lot to learn about successful gardening in the low desert! You don't have to do all of these things, but every one you implement will (in my opinion) improve your success.

    1) Get your plants outside as quickly as possible in Spring. Since there is danger of frost through March, I put all of my small plants into 5-gallon planting containers in January, so I can put them out in the sun all day and drag them under the patio cover (or into the house if it's forecasted to be really cold) at night. Once danger of frost is over, I move the plants to my raised beds. If you don't want to do this, buy the largest plants you can find (hopefully, plants that are already flowering) when you do decide to plant. It's worth the extra money to get a jumpstart on the season.

    2) When you plant your tomatoes, pinch off most of the lower branches, dig a deep hole, and plant the plant so that only the top few branches are above the earth. Each branch node is also capable of producing roots, and once those nodes are below the soil, they will produce a very robust root structure. If your plant is large, you may want to dig a trench and bury the branch nodes in the trench. The plant looks a little lopsided for a few days, but then it straightens up nicely. The additional roots will really help your plant once it gets hot by giving it more ability to take up nutrients and water from the soil.

    3) Protect and cool the roots with a good thick layer of mulch. This year, I got a couple of bales of alfalfa hay from my local feedstore and put a 5-6 inch layer of hay around the root zone of the tomatoes. Be careful not to mulch right up to the trunk of the plant, as this will promote stem rot. If you use hay, be sure to use ALFALFA hay, not BERMUDA GRASS hay (bermuda grass hay is cheaper), as you don't want to introduce bermuda grass into your raised beds! A bale of alfalfa hay is $11-$12, and can be tilled into your soil before Fall planting. Other Master Gardeners I've talked to use straw, bark mulch, compost, and even gravel to protect the roots of their plants.

    4) While the plants are young, fertilize with a product with a high nitrogen content. Nitrogen is the first of the three numbers on the fertilizer bag (for example, Blood Meal is 14-0-0, Amonium Nitrate is 33-0-0). Nitrogen encourages green, lush foliage, which will also help your plant to withstand the heat. Once the plant starts producing flowers/fruit, switch to a product with high phosphorus content, the second of the three numbers (for example, Amonium Phosphate is 16-20-0). Phosphorus promotes root growth and production of flowers and fruit. I like to use Miracle-Gro (15-30-15) every week or two at this stage, as it is foliar (nutrients are absorbed through the leaves), so very easy to apply with a garden hose and sprayer, and I don't have to disturb my mulch layer. The important thing to remember is to FEED YOUR PLANTS, as the energy drain of producing fruit weakens them. As always, follow the directions on the package.

    5) Once it starts to get really hot (over 90 degrees), protect your plants with shade cloth, which you can get at nurseries or home improvement stores. Most Master Gardeners I've spoken to recommend at least 50% shade cloth. This year, I bought a product from Home Depot called Sun Screen Fabric (it's in the Garden Dept). It is heavy-duty and comes in many sizes. The package claims it will reduce the temperature by 15 degrees. It seems to be doing a really nice job! In addition to keeping your plants a bit cooler, it will also protect them from leafhoppers and tomato/tobacco hornworms by blocking the adults from laying their eggs on your plants. Since tomatoes are mostly wind pollinated, you don't have to worry that it will also keep bees from accessing and pollinating your plants. I let the plants get full morning sun, then drape the Sun Screen Fabric over them before noon.

    6) Pick varieties with the least number of "days to harvest". If you purchase plants from the nursery, this should be listed on the plastic tab or on the pot. If you plant from seed, it should be listed on the seed packet. For example, my grape tomato plants are 55 days to harvest, so I got a lot more production early in the season before the pollen died (one of them is still setting fruit, go figure). I tried Burpee Big Boy this year (78 days to harvest) and have been sorely disappointed. Those additional days to harvest give the fruit 3 more weeks to bake and split as the temps rise, and also gives the birds and bugs 3 more weeks to get at them!

    7) Pick small to medium-size varieties... less time on the vine to crack and become bird food. I have had great luck with Sweet 100, Sun Gold, Red Cherry, Red Grape, Yellow Pear, Red Pear, Early Girl, Lemon Boy, Roma, and Better Boy. If you choose a large variety (Brandywine, Beefsteak) you will get huge fruit with HUGE splits in them.

    8) Be prepared to lose some plants, or even to remove them once they have stopped producing fruit. Some Valley gardeners nurse them through the rest of the Summer once they stop producing. Other folks choose to remove the plants and set out new transplants from mid-July to mid-August. Either way, you can usually get a fairly decent (not great) harvest until the first frost kills your plants in the Fall. Or, you can choose to remove the tomatoes and plant blackeyed peas through the rest of the Summer. Plow the pea plants under as you prepare your Fall beds to introduce lots of new nitrogen to the soil. The pea plants contain the most nitrogen just before they start to flower. After that, they put their nitrogen into producing flowers/fruit, so plow them under before then.

    A great reference for answering many of your low desert gardening questions is "Desert Gardening for Beginners" (authors C. Cromell, L. Guy & L. Bradley) from the Arizona Master Gardener Press. For information on how to buy this book, check out http://cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/pubs/mgpress/source.htm. In addition to lots of great desert gardening information, there are planting calendars in the Appendices for Fruits/Vegetables, Herbs and Flowers. This book has been a lifesaver for me!

    Also, a Las Vegas Master Gardener, Leslie Doyle, has written a book entirely devoted to growing tomatoes in a desert climate. Since Las Vegas climate is similar to ours, I recommend you check out her website http://SweetTomatoTestGarden.com. I have tried some of her methods and products, with varying degrees of success. You may find something there that works really well for you!

    For more good information on low desert gardening, the Maricopa County Master Gardeners' Desert Garden Institute is offering an "Edible Landscapes" class on Sept 23rd from 9:00 to noon ($20) at the Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Office, 4341 E. Broadway Rd. The Master Gardener who is teaching the class, Pam Perry, is extremely knowledgeable! For more information or to sign up for the class, contact the MCCE Office at (602) 470-8086.

    Hope this helps! Good luck, and don't give up!

    Carolyn Hills
    Maricopa County Master Gardener Volunteer
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: fawziamai at aol.com 
      To: rkgross3 at cox.net ; arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu ; AZ-Sinbad at cox.net 
      Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2006 11:54 PM
      Subject: Re: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page


         Actually, I think Sinbad did not mean that the tomatoes get brittle and fall apart, but the tomato plants altogether. Same thing happens to mine. It's simply the heat. The whole plant, starting from the leaves, just dries up eventually because it's just too hot. As there are less and less leaves, the fruits start to fare not so well, and eventually become rather yellowish and soft.
         Regular deep watering helps as long as your soil drains well and as long as it is still cool (March to May). But eventually by June, everything will dry up and become brown and brittle. 
      Regards,
      Fawzia
       
      -----Original Message-----
      From: Dick Gross <rkgross3 at cox.net>
      To: arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu; AZ-Sinbad at cox.net
      Sent: Wed, 21 Jun 2006 15:37:34 -0700
      Subject: Re: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page


      Sinbad, I have grown a few tomatoes of multiple varieties in three states for about 65 years and I have never experienced nor read symptoms quite like those you describe. In your words, they may not match the experiences of master gardeners who volunteer their valuable free time to help others who usually spend their spare time watching TV.  I have been one of many volunteers for about ten years and I can assure you that none of my associates back away from a challenge. Indeed, they thrive on difficult questions and problems.

      The bottom line here, this a volunteer organization whose members eagerly and unselfishly give up their own precious time to help people like you often while their own gardens go wanting. We are not the State and we are on no one's payroll.

      You say, "My tomato plants get completely dry after May.  They get brittle and fall apart." I'm sorry, Sinbad, that statement does not make any sense to me. I have never seen tomatoes get brittle and fall apart. Never! When tomatoes get dry, you irrigate them, unless they have been allowed to wilt beyond the point-of-no-return when Jesus Christ and the holy ghost could not bring them back to life. The cells would have collapsed and imbibing water again virtually impossible.

      If the plants were drastically over-fertilized, a condition like you describe might  result. A too-large dose of fertilizer becomes toxic to plant cells killing them. That might result in a condition that could be described as dry but it would, I think, be a stretch.

      If the root system is kept too wet without any oxygen, the plant will promptly die as would almost any other member of the plant kingdom in a condition usually described as wet feet; soil without oxygen.

      Arizona water and soil has a high salt content that, if allowed to concentrate in the root zone with frequent, shallow irrigation, will cause a condition in foliage called saltburn. Deep irrigation that flushes salt from the root zone will keep the salt to safe levels that tomatoes can tolerate quite well.

      When the ambient temperature reaches 90 degrees F, tomato pollen is dead and can no longer function. Fruit already set will ripen and another one may fall through the crack but you ain't gonna get no fruit from dead pollen. The flower turns white, usually, or just falls off. The use of shade cover may help keep the temperature below 90 for a few days but, no matter if sun doesn't hit the bloom,  if pollen reaches about 90, no pollination is likely.

      Further, if no answer is forthcoming within a few days after submittal to this list, you should consider it is out of the system forever.There may be a hundred reasons a question could go unanswered but the percentage opf failure infinitesmal. It is called human error and it is something we all accept in others without prejudice; especially when the service is free.


      Respectfully,

      Dick Gross, Master Gardener Volunteer
      U of A MCCE

      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: <AZ-Sinbad at cox.net>
      To: <arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu>
      Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 2:42 PM
      Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page


      > 
      > 85029
      > AZ-Sinbad at cox.net
      > 
      > I hope I get an answer this time.  I asked a similar question 3 years ago on this site and still no answer.
      > My tomato plants get completely dry after May.  They get brittle and fall apart.  I had been told by your phone help that I should start over the next season and need fresh soil and a raised bed.  I did this but still same problem for last 3 years.  This year has been especially bad with more problems such as tomatoes not ripening but just getting soft when they get to the yellow or orange color; smaller than usual; about half of the tomato looking white and skin wrinkles.  I really need some answers.
      > 
      > 
      > _______________________________________ ________
      > Arid_gardener mailing list
      > Arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
      > http://CALS.arizona.edu/mailman2/listinfo/arid_gardener
      > 
_______________________________________________
Arid_gardener mailing list
Arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
http://CALS.arizona.edu/mailman2/listinfo/arid_gardener

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. Always Free.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------


      _______________________________________________
      Arid_gardener mailing list
      Arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
      http://CALS.arizona.edu/mailman2/listinfo/arid_gardener



------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  Arid_gardener mailing list
  Arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
  http://CALS.arizona.edu/mailman2/listinfo/arid_gardener
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://CALS.arizona.edu/pipermail/arid_gardener/attachments/20060626/191d828d/attachment-0001.html